President Donald Trump stumbled Monday morning during a call with Fox News while discussing former President Barack Obama, but a brief remark he let slip suggested he was reviving “the old 'Secret Muslim' attack” on his political rival, journalist Tommy Christopher argued Monday.
Trump was pressed for an update by the cast of “Fox & Friends” regarding the U.S. war against Iran, which over the weekend saw an uptick in violence as both sides exchanged fire. Trump floated reinstating his administration’s naval blockade on Iran and charging fees to transiting vessels – which he has since ordered by decree – before pivoting to attack Obama.
“Obama was the worst of all because Obama actually went to their side, Obama, because, you know, he’s a… well… let’s not take – let’s not say, let’s leave that for another time,” Trump said.
Writing in an analysis published Monday on the “Jim Acosta Show” Substack, Christopher flagged Trump's use of the phrase “went to their side” as evidence that the long-debunked claim that Obama is Muslim was top of mind, though noted the attack petered out without Trump having “completed the thought, feigning discretion.”
Christopher also flagged Trump’s attacks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deterrence deal reached by the Obama administration with Iran.
“Trump repeatedly claims President Obama ‘went over to their side’ – even though it was Obama who secured a much better deal than the one Trump is trying and failing to get – and weirdly tries to force one of his gaffes into actual reality,” Christopher wrote.
“While he was at the NATO Summit, Trump referred to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] as the ‘JCPOC,’ and on Fox, he claimed that somebody was telling him ‘maybe it’s a C, it ends with a C.’ What’s even more stunning is that this rambling, falsehood-riddled, and unhinged response went on for over six minutes. But this will barely be a story.”
